FOR STARTERS
The Salukis travel to Evansville on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and take on UT-Martin at home on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Southern Illinois is...

Looking to extend its seven-game winning streak

Going for eight-straight MVC wins for the first time since winning nine straight in 2007

Going for its third MVC sweep this season (Previously swept Drake and Loyola)

Looking to improve on its 5-2 mid-week record

Looking to sweep the season series from Evansville for the first time since 2007

Looking for its first win at Evansville since 2011

Looking for a win over UT-Martin for the first time since 2011 after losing one-run games each of the last two years.

VS. EVANSVILLE
The Salukis had the upper hand in the series with Evansville, winning 57 times in 78 meetings between the schools. Evansville had won three of the last four overall in the series before this year, but SIU swept a doubleheader from Evansville in Carbondale earlier this year. Evansville swept a doubleheader from the Salukis last year at Evansville before falling in the series finale in Carbondale. Before Evansville's three wins in the last four meetings, SIU dominated the series in the previous years, winning 20 of 25 contests between 2004 and 2012. Evansville has won four-straight matchups between the schools in Evansville, Ind., and SIU is going for its first win at Evansville since 2011.

VS. UT-MARTIN

The Salukis have a 12-6 lead in the series with UT-Martin, but the Skyhawks have won the last two games in the series. UT-Martin has won midweek contests between the schools in each of the past two seasons, winning one-run games both times.

TRENDING RESULTS FOR EACH TEAM
Southern Illinois riding a season-best seven-game winning streak--all of them in MVC play--entering the midweek games. SIU played the first 40 games of the season without going more than two games above or below the .500 mark, but SIU's winning streak has propelled them to a 24-19 record. Five of the seven games have been at Charlotte West Stadium, improving its home record to 10-5.

Evansville is on a seven-game losing streak that includes the two games at SIU last Wednesday. The Aces have lost 12 of their last 13 overall, 10 of which have been losses by five runs or more. UE's last win came against Drake.

UT-Martin is also on a recent slide, losing six of its last seven games entering the week. The Skyhawks play Middle Tennessee on Tuesday before coming to Carbondale on Thursday. Before their recent slide, the Skyhawks had won eight-straight games.

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE AND UT-MARTIN
Evansville is led by Megan Gurski, who leads the Aces in the circle with eight wins and a 3.89 ERA and at the plate with a .366 batting average. Evansville ranks last in the MVC in team ERA and in the bottom half of the league in hitting, as well.

UT-Martin's strength is in its pitching, holding a team ERA of 2.81. The Skyhawks have four pitchers with an ERA under 3.00, and their ace is Elizabeth Wiegand, who has a 10-6 record and 3.04 ERA. Kayla Wade leads the squad in batting average with a .322 average, and Deven Wilson (.312) and Carly Gonzales (.302) join her with averages above .300. As a team, the Skyhawks hit just .256, nearly 20 points worse than SIU.

Did you know?Super Seniors: Jayna Spivey (144) and Taylor Orsburn (133) rank first and second in school history in career RBIs, and both are in the top-10 in MVC history in that category.

SPIVEY BREAKS SINGLE SEASON DOUBLES RECORD; LEADS MVCJayna Spivey hit two doubles against Loyola on Sunday, giving her 16 for the season. With the mark, she passed teammate Taylor Orsburn's 15 she hit last season for the most in a single season in school history. Becky Lis had also hit 15 in a season during her 1997 campaign. Spivey actually has hit 17 doubles this season, but her walkoff double vs. Murray State is technically a single; the winning run traveled only one base, so Spivey only gets a single on the play. Nonetheless, Spivey's 16 doubles lead the MVC in doubles by three two-baggers and she has led the Salukis to a No. 34 ranking nationally in doubles per game. With her big season, Spivey is catching up to Orsburn for career doubles. Orsburn ranks fifth in school history with 38 career doubles; Spivey is right behind her and sixth in school history with 37.

SALUKIS EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO SEVEN
SIU played the first 40 games of the year without going more than two games over or two games under the .500 mark. Southern only had one three-game winning streak and one three-game losing streak in that time. The Salukis are getting hot at the right time, however. SIU went 5-0 last week to extend its current winning streak to seven games, all of which have come in MVC play. For SIU, it's its first seven-game MVC winning streak since 2011, and the Salukis are going for their first eight-game winning streak in conference play since 2007 on Tuesday at Evansville. The streak has dramatically changed SIU's season, taking it from 5-7 in the Valley to now 12-7 and in third place in the league.

ORSBURN JOINS MVC'S TOP-10 RBI PRODUCER LISTTaylor Orsburn has 26 RBIs this season, bringing her career total to 133, which ranks second in SIU history and 10th in MVC history. The only other hitter in Southern Illinois history who has more career RBIs than Orsburn is teammate Jayna Spivey, who broke SIU's career record earlier this season and ranks seventh in MVC history with 144 career RBIs.

With both Spivey and Orsburn in the top-10 in MVC history in career RBIs, Southern Illinois is the only school with teammates in the top-10. With four total players among the top-12 RBI producers in MVC history, Southern has the most players among the MVC's elite RBI producers of any school.

SPIVEY AND ORSBURN IN THE RECORD BOOKSJayna Spivey and Taylor Orsburn have their names plastered all over the SIU record books. Both players are in the top-10 in school history in career at bats, doubles, home runs, and RBIs. Additionally, Orsburn ranks eighth in career hits, and Spivey ranks fourth in career runs scored, and the other player is knocking on the door of the top-10 in both of those categories.

In the single-season list, Taylor Orsburn's 2011 campaign is now second in doubles (15) after Spivey broke that record earlier this year. Orsburn's 49 RBIs in 2011 rank third in school history, while Spivey's 44 last year rank sixth. Spivey hit 11 home runs in both 2011 and 2013, ranking seventh in school history, and Orsburn hit 10 in 2011, which ranks 10th.

BERTELSEN EMERGES AS STAFF ACE
SIU junior Katie Bertelsen has emerged as the staff ace. In her first seven appearances after MVC play started, Bertelsen had a 1.83 ERA and threw six complete games in her seven starts. She threw a complete-game shutout in the series opener against Drake and allowed more than two earned runs only twice. She went pitch-for-pitch with 2012 MVC Pitcher of the Year Jamie Fisher of UNI in a 10-inning 2-1 loss and backed it up by only allowing six earned runs over her next 24 innings (2.14 ERA). After a rough patch, Bertelsen appears to be back to her dominant ways. She is 4-0 in SIU's seven-game iwnning streak with a great 2.89 ERA. Most encouraging, she's only allowing hitters a .230 average against her, while her season batting average against is at .292. She has struck out 10 batters in that streak, as well.

Bertelsen has posted just a 3.19 ERA in MVC play and thrown nine complete games. She's recorded the W in eight of SIU's 12 conference wins. Although she's SIU's starter, she's also recorded three saves this year. With 12 saves now in her career, Bertelsen ranks sixth in the NCAA in career saves among active players.

GONZALEZ: SIU'S HOTTEST HITTERKelsey Gonzalez has been Southern's hottest hitter over the past few weeks, raising her season batting average to .336, which is second on the team. Gonzalez is second on the team with 10 multi-hit games. She has hit safely in 20 of the last 27 games and reached base in 23 of those 27 games, raising her batting average nearly 75 points from .262 to .336. In that 27-game stretch, Gonzalez has a team-best .380 batting average to go along with a .435 on-base percentage and .507 slugging percentage.

GONZO: 3RD IN NCAA IN SAC FLIES
Sacrifice flies are rare in softball, with seven sac flies on the year leading the NCAA as of last Monday's stat report. Kelsey Gonzalez has been one of the nation's best at getting a run home from third. She had four coming into last week, which ranked 11th nationally, and added two more on Wednesday against Evansville. With six, Gonzalez tied other players for third in the NCAA this year in sacrifice flies. If she's not hitting a sac fly, chances are she's still getting the runner home: Gonzalez is hitting .533 (8-for-15) this year with a runner on third and less than two outs.

PATTERSON GIVES SALUKIS A SPARK
SIU freshman Merri Anne Patterson was inserted into the starting lineup for the series at Bradley and wasted no time in making a spark. The Salukis have gone 7-1 since Patterson became a regular starter. She threw out the potential tying run at home in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 7-6 win over Bradley in the second game of the series, and her two-run home run in the series finale proved to be the difference in a 6-4 win. Patterson has hit .294 during SIU's seven-game winning streak, including a team-leading nine RBIs. She has a .400 on-base percentage and .471 slugging percentage.

VADEBONCOUER ON 25-GAME REACHED-BASE STREAK
SIU senior Allie VadeBoncouer has reached base in 25-straight games for the Salukis, the longest mark on the team this season. It's the longest for SIU since teammate Taylor Orsburn reached base in 26-straight games overlapping the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Orsburn reached base in the final 23 games of 2013 before reaching base in the first three games of this season.

VadeBoncouer has hit just .236 during her remarkable 25-game reached base streak, which dates back to the Boston College game, but her on-base percentage is at .500 during the swing. Her .492 season on-base percentage ranks fourth in the Valley, and she is seeking her second .500 season on-base percentage of her career. In that sample size that has grown to more than half the season, two other Salukis have matched or nearly matched VadeBoncouer's incredible OBP. Jayna Spivey (.500 OBP) and Shaye Harre (.475 OBP) have also been getting on base at nearly a 50 percent clip.

SPIVEY LEADS QUINTET OF SALUKIS DOMINATING IN MVC PLAY
Through 19 games, Spivey is putting up ridiculous numbers in Missouri Valley Conference games. The senior hit .417 last week and actually decreased her conference batting average. She is hitting .458 in MVC play to go along with astronomical on-base percentage (.579) and slugging percentage (.780) numbers. She has hit eight doubles, a triple, and three home runs in conference play, and she's added 19 RBIs on top of that.

Spivey isn't the only SIU player leaving her mark in conference paly. Kelsey Gonzalez is hitting .346 in 19 MVC games, raising her season batting average to .336 in the process. Shaye Harre is certainly making her mark in her first season in the Valley, hitting .345 with five doubles and 12 RBIs. Harre's OBP (.463) and slugging (.527) numbers are also impressive. Kelsea Ashton and Merri Anne Patterson have also been sparks in conference play. Ashton has hit just .114 in non-conference play, but she's hitting .300 in 19 MVC games and drawn 10 walks to post a .440 on-base percentage. Patterson was insterted into the starting lineup halfway through the conference season but is hitting .300 with nine RBIs, and she also has a .440 OBP.

VADEBONCOUER 2ND IN NCAA HISTORY IN CAREER HBP
SIU senior Allie VadeBoncouer has been hit by 14 pitches this year. That marks 69 times in her career that VadeBoncouer has been hit by a pitch, second in NCAA history. VadeBoncouer passed Auburn's Myesha Finney (2006-09) for sole possession of second place on the NCAA's all-time HBP list by wearing one against Eastern Illinois on Wednesday. VadeBoncouer probably will have to settle for second on the list; the NCAA's career leader, Mariah Gearhart of Okahoma State (2008-11) blows away the field with an amazing 92 career HBPs.

ORSBURN RIGHT AT HOME IN CIRCLE
SIU senior first baseman Taylor Orsburn, pitching for the first time in her SIU career, had a 1.95 ERA in her first 32.1 innings this year. In that span, she allowed hitters just a .242 average against her. To start MVC play, she was even better, posting an 1.21 ERA in her first 17.1 innings, which spanned five appearances. Hitters managed only a .215 average over that time. Orsburn had a 15-inning scoreless streak heading into the seventh inning of SIU's 9-3 win at SLU before giving up an earned run in the blowout. After a rough stretch, Orsburn was back to her dominant ways with solid weeks the last two weeks. In her last five appearances, Orsburn is 3-0 with a 2.51 ERA in 22.1 innings. She has pitched two complete game wins and picked up a save, as well. Orsburn has lowered her season ERA to 2.80 in 55 innings this year and has a 5-2 record, which includes a 4-0 mark in MVC play.

FRESHMAN SENSATION
True freshman Shaye Harre has jumped right in and been one of the best hitters in the conference from the start of her career. Harre ranks 17th nationally among freshman in RBIs per game as of the last NCAA stat report last Monday and, along with Jayna Spivey, has led SIU to the No. 34 rank nationally out of 288 schools in doubles per game. Harre leads the team in home runs (4), RBIs (37) and triples (2), and she's done all that despite hitting just .194 with five RBIs in her first 13 games.

Harre was unstoppable against Evansville. The freshman from Nashville, Ill., reached base in all nine of her plate appearances (one by error) and went 5-for-6 to raise her batting average from below .300 to .325 in just one day. On the season, Harre is hitting .317 and has drawn 26 walks to post a .448 on-base percentage, as well. Harre ranks fourth in the MVC in RBIs, fourth in walks, sixth in doubles and ninth in on-base percentage.

FUN FINALES
SIU has gone 5-0 this year in the third game of Valley series behind a lethal combination of solid pitching from Bertelsen and a potent offense. SIU has averaged 7.4 runs in those finales and the offense is hitting .356 as a whole. Four regulars are hitting .500 or better in the third game of MVC series, led by Jayna Spivey's .600 / .700 / 1.200 splits. Bertelsen has gone 5-0 with three complete games, and she has held her ERA to 4.11 while her offense is putting up more than seven runs behind her.

BASES FOR FREE
Southern led the MVC in drawing free bases last season with a combined 259 free bases via walks and hit-by-pitches. The Salukis ranked second behind Illinois State for the MVC's lead in bases on balls with 201, and the Salukis' 58 free bases on hit by pitches was the league leader by 19.

This year, the Salukis have continued the trend. Southern leads the conference in walks by 23 despite playing the third-fewest games of the 10 MVC teams, leads the league in on-base percentage and ranks second in hit-by-pitches. As a result, the Salukis are second in the conference in runs scored and rank in the top-three in the MVC in nearly every offensive category.

Coached her 800th career game--all at SIU--on March 30 @ Missouri St. ... Highest Win% among MVC 500-win coaches

SPIVEY AND HARRE TURN AROUND
Through 13 games, two key cogs in the middle of the SIU lineup were struggling. Senior Jayna Spivey was hitting just .237 and freshman Shaye Harre was hitting .194. In the 30 games since, both players have been playing at an All-MVC level. Spivey is hitting .392 and has raised her average all the way to .348 for the season. She's posted an OBP of .504 and a slugging percentage of .670. She has 13 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 25 RBIs in that 30-game span alone. Harre has been nearly as good. She has hit .368 with a .486 OBP and .632 slugging percentage. She's hit nine doubles, a triple and four home runs in addition to her 32 RBIs in that span.

BLAYLOCK RACKS UP MILESTONES
SIU's series finale at Missouri State marked her 800th career game, all of which have come at SIU. Blaylock also picked up her 500th career coaching win on March 21, 2013, with SIU's doubleheader sweep of Saint Louis. In her 15th season, she is the second SIU coach and the eighth MVC coach to reach the 500-win milestone. Her career .661 winning percentage is the highest among the MVC's 500-win coaches.

SPIVEY BREAKS SIU RBI RECORD
SIU senior Jayna Spivey broke the school record for career RBIs on a game-tying two-run double in the top of the seventh inning in the first game against Missouri State on Saturday. The record was shared by Jamie Schuttek (1994-97) and Alicia Garza (2007-10). Schuttek and Garza each reached 132 career RBIs, and Spivey now has 144 total, which is good for eighth in MVC history.

Last year, Spivey tied Schuttek's 1997 season for the sixth-most single-season RBIs with 44. Another current Saluki, Allie VadeBoncouer, holds the single-season record with 51 RBIs in 2012, while Taylor Orsburn holds third place on the single-season list with 49 RBIs in 2011. Orsburn isn't far behind Spivey in career RBIs; with 124 career RBIs, Orsburn is fifth on the school's all-time list, and VadeBoncouer (97 career RBIs) is knocking on the door of the top-10.

SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE
Senior second baseman Jayna Spivey was named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. Spivey was a 2013 Capital One Academic All-District selection and First-Team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete who holds a 3.761 cumulative GPA in biological sciences. The Rosiclare, Ill. recorded 44 RBI's in 2013 to lead the Missouri Valley Conference, which ties as the sixth-best season in SIU history. She also led SIU with 12 multi-RBI games and ranked second in the MVC with 11 home runs, which is tied for seventh in school history. Thirty NCAA softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate softball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.

NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
SIU softball has a new Facebook fan page at Facebook.com/SalukiSoftball. Fans who like the page will get links to follow games, promotions, and photos from the season.

FOLLOW US
The official Twitter of Saluki softball is @SIU_Softball. This account features team news as well as live in-game updates. Fans can also follow Saluki Athletics @SIUSalukis for news on all SIU sports.

SALUKI NEWS ONLINE
SIUSalukis.com is the official website for SIU Athletics. It is the best source for up-to-date information on the Saluki softball team. Rosters, box scores, cumulative statistics, pre-game notes and other materials are available on the site. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read PDF files.

SALUKI ALL-ACCESS
Coverage for every Saluki softball game is available online though Saluki All-Access at www.SIUSalukis.com/allaccess. A live audio stream will be available for every game and live video will be available for all home games. Saluki All-Access also has on-demand content for all 18 Saluki sports.